Welcome! Here begins your journey in traversing the universe where the Last Frontiers meet- the gunslinging heroism and gritty scoundreling of the old Western genre and the futuristic starfighting and space wandering of science fiction, as can be found in the Joss Whedon creation, Firefly . In this thread you create the characters that you will be portraying, crewmembers and passengers of the space freighter Gan Ying as it moves about the Firefly 'verse. The ship itself is maybe a tad more respectable than Serenity, but no less exciting...

There are several steps to Character Creation.

1. Crew or Passenger? Deciding whether you are a crewmember of Gang Ying or simply onboard as a traveling passenger can have a great effect on the role that you play on the ship and during missions. Though all must follow the rules set by Kelly, the Captain of Gan Ying , each has their perks. Crewmembers, first and foremost, get paid for the missions they partake in, and are more likely to get in on the action that comes with being part of a smuggling operation. Passengers, on the other hand, are more on the social side of things, but have greater freedom in that they do not work for Kelly and so don’t have to follow him to a tee, so long as they don’t do anything to endanger the ship and the others aboard it.

2. Name. Your character needs a name! In the Firefly verse, the naming process is not terribly complicated, as the majority can be relatively mundane but enough to sound Western (i.e. Malcolm Reynolds, Kaylee Frye). If they are from the core worlds, however, they might have a bit of exotic inflection to them, regardless of background (i.e. River Tam, Inara Serra). Some even just go by nicknames (i.e. Wash, Badger).

3. Template. A template determines just what your character is good at, as well as their role in society and on the ship Gan Ying . Each template has some sort of specialty that makes the character stand out from the others, though they are definitely customizable and, over time, will gain experience in other fields of work. Make sure you pick one that fits what you have in mind.

4. Assigning Stats and Skills. This process is highly flexible to allow you choose what you want your character to really be good at and how they are physically and mentally. A list explaining each stat and each skill will be available below.

5. Merits. Choose merits that give your character some special tie they can use when they need it, or a source of information, etc.

6. Schticks. These define special abilities that your character has in the way of operating guns, fighting up close, and sometimes sitting in the pilot seat.

7. Background. Are you sympathetic to the Alliance or the Browncoats? Where are you from? What is your character like? And so on. These can be kept private, if the player so chooses, due to their character not wanting to be discriminated against or maintaining an aura of mystery, like Shepherd Book himself.

Here is listed the Stats and Skills that go into creating your characters.

STATS

Stats are rated from 1 to 5, with the human average being 2. They are used to determine how you are physically and mentally, and can have an effect on your skills.

PHYSICAL

Strength - a general measure of your character’s physical build, it determines how much damage you can take in a fight before dropping from wounds or exertion. Multiple it by ten and add twenty to that to get your maximum damage. Also used in situations where feats of Strength are called for.

Agility - a general measure of your character’s speed and mobility, this is used as the base for all acrobatic maneuvers (jumping over things and off of things and between things, etc.) and also to decide how skilled you are in Combat.

Dexterity - a general measure of your character’s reaction time and steadiness, this is coupled with anything involving hand work, from Piloting starships to firing off Guns.

MENTAL

Willpower - a general measure of your mental strength, used to resist certain effects and keep going in times of great strain.

Intelligence - a general measure of your bookish knowledge and logical ability to process information and consider issues.

Charisma - a general measure of your ability to interact with others, be that via friendly words or vicious threats.

Perception - a general measure of how you notice things around you, including clues at a crime scene or odd behavior.

SKILLS

A reference for available skills in the game. Generally you start with a set of skills defined by your character, losing those that you do not decide to take, and can gain more through game play experience.

Combat (Agility): The ability to fight up close unarmed or with a melee weapon.

These schticks allow you to have some special prowess with Guns, and effect how you use them.

BIG GUNS

"Every man there go back inside, or we will blow a new crater in this little moon."

Causing explosions is fun, but even better when using them to off targets. When firing at Mooks with Heavy Weapons, you only need two successes to finish them off. When firing at Supermooks or Named Characters with Heavy Weapons, increase your damage by one.

TAP: Blasts can be massive enough to catch up those nearby. Act as if making a second Heavy Weapons attack, regardless of ammo.

Allows you to protect others with covering fire. Nominate one nearby person to protect each turn; that person may use your Defense, Parry, and Armor values.

TAP: Double all values for the person you are protecting.

Bonus (Offensive) - The person you are protecting may make a free attack using your Guns pool.

BOTH GUNS BLAZING

“How many weapons you plan on taking? You only got the two arms.”

Wield two guns at once! When firing this way, the base damage of your Gun attacks becomes 3* (bonuses can be added to this from other schticks). It is intended that you use two single-handed weapons for this, but heavier weapons can be used if you really want. Additionally, you can wield a melee weapon and a gun with this schtick at -3 to each pool, but you do not gain any values from Combat schticks.

TAP: Add +4 to your Guns pool.

Bonus (Offensive) - The base damage of your Gun attack becomes 4**.

Conflicts with Carnival of Carnage, Hail of Bullets, and Marksman.

BULLET TIME

“We are not gonna die. You know why? Because we are so... very... pretty.”

In slow motion, you perform dramatic stunts that keep shooters from drawing bead on you. Making Gun attacks and refusing cover, all Mooks need to roll ‘6s’ in order to hit you.

TAP: All Named Characters need to roll ‘6s’ in order to hit you.

Bonus (Defensive) - The first '6' your opponent rolls is changed to a ‘3’ and so a failure.

CARNIVAL OF CARNAGE

“No power in the ‘verse can stop me.”

The ‘verse is chock-full of thugs and henchmen that are out to get ya. But, as far as you’re concerned, they just provide more targets for you to put six feet under. You may attack twice a turn, so long as you only target Mooks.

TAP: You can attack Mooks a total of four times this turn.

Bonus (Defensive) - Half of the successes you roll on one of your attacks (the one with the highest amount of successes) can be used to negate the successes of Mooks next turn.

Conflicts with Both Guns Blazing, Hail of Bullets, and Marksman.

CLOSE QUARTERS GUNMAN

When fighting the Operative, Malcolm pulls out his revolver at close range.

Generally, people keep their distance in a firefight since guns are ranged weapons and most falter when trying to shoot their targets up close. But not you! Instead of suffering from trying to get into pointblank range, you gain +3 to your Guns pool and add two to your Defense value against close combat attacks.

TAP: All close combat attacks against you this turn miss.

Bonus (Offensive) - Gain +1 to your Guns pool and a * rating.

EAGLE EYE

“I am, of course, wearing full body armor. I am not a moron.”

This represents precise shooting that can help bypass the problematic issues of hitting your targets. Ignore all Armor, Cover, or Range issues when firing at targets.

TAP: Each success rolled on your attack does two points of damage rather than one.

Sometimes you just find that gun that just feels... right! This just represents how comfortable and familiar you are with this one particular gun, or even that you just consider the damn thing a lucky charm. Every attack you make with this favored weapon, you are allowed to turn a '1' rolled on a die into a '6,' meaning a success.

TAP: All '1s' become '6s' on your roll, meaning successes.

Bonus (Offensive) - Shoot first, regardless of initiative.

HAIL OF BULLETS

“You even think about playing me again I will riddle you with holes.”

Some people are just damn good at rattling off shots without even aiming, going off of instinct. When they hit their target, they know they might be able to hit them again and so they go for it without any prep. After you hit a foe, make an extra attack on him at -3 to your Guns pool.

TAP: After you hit a foe, make an extra attack on him at -2 to your Guns pool, and repeat this process until you miss or need to reload.

Bonus (Offensive)- If you hit a foe, make a free attack at a quarter of your pool on another target while making your second attack on the original.

Conflicts with Both Guns Blazing, Carnival of Carnage, and Marksman.

HAIR-TRIGGER NECK HAIRS

“I know something ain’t right...”

Out on the fringes of civilized space, there is bound to be trouble. Either due to too many bad experiences or an inexplicable sixth sense, you just have a knack for finding it before it finds you. If ambushed, you can still act against your attackers.

TAP: If ambushed, you can still act against your attackers and gain a point of Armor for every '1' rolled against you.

Bonus (Defensive) - If ambushed, an attack on you misses completely.

LIGHTNING RELOAD

Jayne and Zoe reload quickly while fighting Nisca's thugs.

Troublesome loading times for when you run out of ammo can lead to some unfortunate circumstances in the heat of battle. You can rectify that by having practiced speeding up your reload time in order to minimize the time you spend slapping in a new clip and maximize the time you spend emptying it again. All weapons reload like pistols and revolvers. Pistols and revolvers reload for free at no penalty, though only one reload a turn.

TAP: Reload for free (even if you already have this turn) and make an extra attack.

Bonus (Offensive) - Regain the point of ammo you used this turn.

MARKSMAN

“This is precision work. Sharpshooters.”

The master marksman knows that patience can be rewarding when it comes to making sure that perfect shot finds its mark. If your weapon has an accuracy bonus, double it. If not, add +1 to your Guns pool. This does not apply to the Burstfire bonus.

Conflicts with Both Guns Blazing, Carnival of Carnage, and Hail of Bullets.

MERCYKILLER

“Preacher, don’t the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?”

“Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps...”

The saying goes that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. That being said, it can happen that a person doesn’t want to kill the people they shoot at, only make sure that they can’t shoot back. Shooting them in places that won’t kill them but will certainly still hurt can be a good way of doing that. If a Guns attack kills a Mook, you can choose to simply debilitate them.

TAP: If a Guns attack kills a Named Character, you can choose to simply debilitate them and limit their damage taken to their maximum.

Bonus (Offensive) - Your opponent's Dexterity is reduced to zero for their next attack.

RAPID FIRE

When trying to kill intruders that have come aboard, Wash fires a revolver in burst mode.

Unable to settle for the slow firing rate of pistols but not willing to deal with the bulkiness of automatics, you can have honed yourself to put out bullets with such rapidity that you might as well be firing a full-auto gun. While potentially wasteful of ammo, this lets you fire bursts with guns that normally don’t. Cut ammo ratings of these guns in half and negate accuracy bonuses, but receive the Burstfire bonus (+3 to your Guns pool). This doesn't work for guns that can already do Burstfire.

TAP: Double your Burstfire bonus (+6 to your Guns pool).

Bonus (Defensive) - Gain +3 Defense next turn.

STEADY HAND

“Drunk people are so cute.”

When most people would start to trip over themselves due to drunkenness or lose focus from injuries, there are some who are able to keep a clear head when it comes to combat no matter how addled their minds are with booze or pain. Ignore half of your dice penalties from Intoxication.

TAP: Ignore all of your dice penalties from Intoxication.

Bonus (Offensive) - Gain an extra die for every point of Intoxication you have.

STRAIGHT SHOOTER

"Someone's carryin' a bullet for you right now, doesn't even know it."

You don’t mess around when lives are on the line, and you put down your target fast. The first success in every Guns attack is worth two successes.

TAP: The minimum amount of damage will be inflicted regardless of your target’s Armor or Parry ratings.

Bonus (Offensive) - The first success is treated as being worth three successes.

When at the controls of a starship- whether it be a nippy interceptor or a sizeable freighter- you might have some preferences for how you handle whatever it is you are flying. These schticks cover that.

DAREDEVIL

"They'd have to be insane to follow us through here."

You love to get the maximum out any ship you fly, pulling the stick as far as it goes, your instincts still working even at maximum G-Force. Any ship you fly has 1 added to its Maneuverability Rating.

DEADSHOT

"I can speak a word and send a missile to that exact location inside of three minutes..."

You have a real nerve and steady hand when making a target run on a large opponent. Gain 3 extra dice to your Piloting pool when making a bombing run.

FAVORITE RIDE

"What you care about is ships, and mine's the nicest."

You do more than own your own ship, you are almost one with it; you know every part of how all of it works. When flying that particular vessel, you get one extra die on ALL Pilot rolls made with that ship. This schtick cannot be taken as Gan Ying is Captain Kelly's ship.

KILLER INSTINCT

"I'm a dangerous minded man on a ship loaded with hurt..."

You have a phenomenal sense, during a battle, of where the opportunities to get kills are. About half of the 'Melee' Starship Combat Event types can be converted into 'Closing In' instead if you have Killer Instinct; the event will say if this can happen.

Even in a crisis you have a knack for getting your crate down safely. If you crash you may make a Pilot roll with a difficulty set by the GM depending on circumstance. If the roll is successful, no-one in the ship is hurt in the crash and the ship will always be salvageable.

SPEED KING

"This kind of flying really wakes a guy up!"

You can handle a ship at extreme speed, and love to tweak power settings to get the most out its engines, going where others would not dare. Any ship you fly has its Thrust rating increased by one.

TACTICAL AWARENESS

"Target the Reavers! Target everyone! Somebody fire!"

You have a great sense for the position of ships around you and are rarely caught off guard. About half of the 'On Your Six!' Spaceship Combat Event types can be converted into 'Melee' instead if you have Tactical Awareness; the event will say if this can happen

Up-close and personal, those who fight hand-to-hand or with a bludgeoning/cutting/strangling tool are going to have different ideas on how to do it, and so use these schticks.

“As with other situations, the key seems to be giving Jayne a heavy stick and standing back.”

Feint

Choose each turn before rolling- either gain two Combat pool or do one extra damage. This is the same effect as Counterstrike (you may not double up an effect but you may take both the pool and the damage if you have both).

TAP: Gain successes on 4 or more instead of 5 or more this turn.

Counterstrike

Choose each turn before rolling- either gain two Combat pool or do one extra damage. This is the same effect as Feint (you may not double up an effect but you may take both the pool and the damage if you have both).

TAP: Re-roll any failures on your attack roll this turn.

Sidestep

Gain +3 Defense against close combat attacks.

TAP: Instead, gain +4 Parry against close combat attacks.

Dodge and Weave

Gain +1 Defense against all types of attacks.

TAP: Gain an extra +4 Defense against all attacks (+5 total).

Focused Blow

Ignore all Armor ratings your targets have.

TAP: Your opponent’s Agility is reduced to zero for their next attack.

Unbreakable

Gain +2 Armor against unarmed close combat attacks.

TAP: Ignore all damage from unarmed close combat attacks, and +3 Armor against all other types of attacks.

Martial Artist

Unarmed only. Gain +4 Combat pool.

TAP: Instead, gain +10 Combat pool.

Street Fighter

Unarmed only. Gain +2* damage.

TAP: Gain a bonus attack on a foe attacking you in close combat; this resolves before his attack.

TAP: Instead, increase your Combat pool by +2 and damage by +4*. If you hit, gain another attack with bonus Combat pool equal to successes rolled on the first attack (maximum of four) as you smash your foe to the ground.

These are special character-specific qualities that are chosen at the beginning in character creation, advantages from the character's background. They cannot be added to with experience (except through those earned in-game) but they can be lost! Be careful with these, they can be important.

ALLY

A friend of yours who can back you up. Note that it is a friend, not a slave; they will be available when they are able. A bodyguard will specialize in protecting you and be around always, but a smuggler, someone with a wide set of skills, has his own life. Specify what it is this person does when taking this Merit. This can be taken multiple times.

CONTACT

An information source. You must state where your contact is and what information he would be able to supply you with. Aim for something broad, like 'a snitch in Alliance Intelligence,' rather than specific, like 'price of cheese at St. Albans.' This can be taken multiple times.

HAVEN

The 'verse is a dangerous place, and sometimes you just need to disappear for awhile. A Haven is a secret and secure place that you can hide at.

HIGHER PURPOSE

You believe you're in the 'verse for a bigger reason than mere existence. Some sort of weird destiny thing. This adds 1 to your Willpower.

REPUTATION (costs 2)

You are famous throughout the 'verse for whatever reason, something you have done in your lifetime. Whilst not a guarantee that everyone will know who you are, there is a good chance that you will be recognized. This can be some heroic feat that you achieved- saving children from a burning space orphanage, some sketchy act that isn't too terrible- robbing the rich and giving to the poor, or something just outright horrid- robbing the poor to give to the rich while blowing up a space orphanage. It will get you different reactions socially.

MONEY (costs 2)

Your character has, by some inheritance or event, come across a ridiculously sizeable amount of money entering their bank account. It gives you 3 Money points to play around with each game, rather than the 1 that Passengers (automatically spent on passage) and the 1 that Crewmembers earn from working for Kelly. Please do explain how you got this, however.

TIES (costs 3)

A more powerful and direct form of Contact, you are actually an active member with official standing or rank inside an organization. You may wish to consider making this appropriate to your template.

LUCKY (costs 3)

No power in the 'verse can stop you... you can re-roll two failed rolls in a game.

Money (Nadra is from a very wealthy family, of course she's got money to throw around)

SCHTICKS

Eagle Eye
Steady Hand

Whirling Strike
Snake Eyes
Feint
Dodge and Weave

SPECIAL

Companions may re-roll dice that didn't show 5 or 6 when making social checks with someone interested in the character's gender.

---

A native of Bellerophon, Nadra grew up in a very wealthy family, wanting for nothing. Living in one of the floating estates of the world, she was largely insulated and sheltered from everything else, and as a result even now still tends to be naÃ¯ve about how things tend to work in reality; her family were supporters of the Alliance and as a result so is she. One thing she did decide was that she didn't want to have to settle down and marry when she grew up; such an idea was boring to her and something she didn't want to do. Instead she decided she wanted to train as a Companion, something her family was fine with, as members of the Guild were among the most respected in society.

Nadra rather enjoys her position as a Companion. While she would certainly never be poor, due to her family, she has wealth, respect, and a high position in society on her own, instead of it simply being due to her name and family. She enjoys the freedoms that she has, even though she is still bound to Guild rules. She is a bit arrogant, tending to think she's somewhat better than others, but knows well enough to not actually voice such a thought. And she's not afraid to use a combination of her charisma and looks to draw people under her thumb. She is currently traveling on the Gan Ying, looking for fun and 'adventure'.

When making Medicine rolls, the Medic can change a rolled '1' on a die into a '6.'

---

Kenneth started out as one of them fancy doctors what was trained on Londinum. Professionally trained and everything, making whole hills of money. At least, 'til he got it in his head to ask why he was being told to give some folk medical care but not others, when they were all sick with the same thing. He was given questionable answers about some not being able to afford it, and it was better to leave them sick and dying than healthy and in debt, but after a while he realized the truth: the folk he was told to refuse to treat were all Browncoats back in the war.

Well, Kenneth decided he didn't like the idea of that. He left for the Border, figuring he could do more good on his own than as part of the big, corrupt hospitals.

Just a note, I allowed Thraxis to make edits to his Schticks. If anyone strongly feels that their character needs to be edited, talk to me.

Though Elizabeth Cien might be more of a Contact rather than an Ally. Allies normally actively help you in some way, while in your company. Contacts can give other information but have other perks from time to time.

Higher Purpose:
Christopher has been a witness to many lives across the verse in his travels and wanderings, and has come to beleive that God did not allow him to meet these people without reason. He is on a mission to find that reason.

Reputation:
Being of a generally good nature, and holding a deep respect for the basic civilized rights of others, Christopher has somehting of a reputation on the more rowdy planets as a defender of the little guy, putting crooks and generally bad people in their place for the sake of those they abuse.

Haven:
Having been to many planets and helped many people, he has earned himself a few select places among these planets as safe havens. Which is good, because he's also made himself a few enemies in earning the people's general hospitality.

Background: Christopher is a man who has traveled the verse well. He's been to many planets both on the fringe and in the core, but has never settled on any one of them. His time roaming around has given him somehting of a reputation, those who know of him basically associate him as the guy who saves orphans from burning buildings and what have you. He spent some time during the Unification War as a Browncoat, beleiving that while unity is good, universilization is the death of societies and cultures. Despite being on the losing side of the war, he has taken to adapting to the Alliance and its laws, which generally aren't all that bad, and respects the men and women of it, as their ideals are just as important as anyone elses. As for why he has come on board the Gan Ying is yet to be seen, as he's currently just doing what he always does: float around the verse.

Gabriel is known through the galaxy because of an somehow mysterious incident where him and a few others successfully fought back against a reaver attack, saving a small town in the process. Although many people are even unsure whether Reavers exist most have indeed heard of the legend surrounding the incident.

Ally

Kyle Doyle is an adventurer and friend of Gabriel. He fought with with the Browncoats in the war and after their defeat took to exploring the Universe and having some fun. He is very extrovert and rather loud as opposed to Gabriels more laid back and quiet attitude. The two have been through a lot of dangerous situations sometimes travelling together, sometimes just meeting up on some obscure planet.

Contact

Wu-Lao Katarina was a high ranking officer on Alliance side, turned criminal and an old girlfriend of Gabriel. She is the right hand of a crime syndicate of smugglers and thieves operating from within the Alliance center and as such has an excellent information network at her disposal, which at times, if Gabriel didn't piss her off again, she shares with her old friend.

Special:
Drifters, being well-traveled, can pick a non-combat skill in which is he very knowledgeable and gains a +3 pool bonus.

Background: Christopher is a man who has traveled the verse well. He's been to many planets both on the fringe and in the core, but has never settled on any one of them. His time roaming around has given him somehting of a reputation, those who know of him basically associate him as the guy who saves orphans from burning buildings and what have you. He spent some time during the Unification War as a Browncoat, beleiving that while unity is good, universilization is the death of societies and cultures. Despite being on the losing side of the war, he has taken to adapting to the Alliance and its laws, which generally aren't all that bad, and respects the men and women of it, as their ideals are just as important as anyone elses. As for why he has come on board the Gan Ying is yet to be seen, as he's currently just doing what he always does: float around the verse.

Looks good, our characters are kinda similar...but will we be best friends, or mortal enemies...only time will tell. Oh, you do have to choose one non combat attribute though for which then +3 bonus applies. Savoir Faire, Fix It and Medicine all seem good choices, really.

Edited as Rob's request, putting backgrounds to his Merits and picking Savoir-Faire as his bonus after tweaking skills a bit.

Nadra- just missing your background, as you already stated. Might want to tie in why your family is so wealthy.

Kenneth- you told me that the Money merit is from being a doctor in chat. Formerly an Alliance guy, right? Not much to made in the outer planets.

Harmony- everything's set there, Thrax. Looks good.

Christopher- Okay, only one thing to nitpick. Your Haven is going to be one specific place that you can run to. A Drifter might have friends everywhere, but this is somewhere really secure that nobody will find him at.

Originally posted by Captain REX Edited as Rob's request, putting backgrounds to his Merits and picking Savoir-Faire as his bonus after tweaking skills a bit.

Nadra- just missing your background, as you already stated. Might want to tie in why your family is so wealthy.

Kenneth- you told me that the Money merit is from being a doctor in chat. Formerly an Alliance guy, right? Not much to made in the outer planets.

Harmony- everything's set there, Thrax. Looks good.

Christopher- Okay, only one thing to nitpick. Your Haven is going to be one specific place that you can run to. A Drifter might have friends everywhere, but this is somewhere really secure that nobody will find him at.